20 Holiday Traditions the Royal Family Takes Very Seriously
Most families have cherished annual traditions that they look forward to each holiday season, and the house of Windsor is no exception. The Royal family has their own traditions and ways of celebrating at the holidays, just like your family does. You may even find you have some traditions in common, or you may find a new one you want to make your own, but one thing you won’t find lacking in the Royal family is love and a spirit of togetherness. Well, a spirit of togetherness as long as you are part of the “real” royal family.
For example, you can only attend Christmas Eve at Sandringham House if you are an official member—as in married to or born from the immediate family. The only exceptions ever to this rule have been recently with Meghan Markle, who was invited to her first Christmas Eve as Harry’s Fiancé last year, and now Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, who will celebrate with them all this year. The queen supposedly extended that invitation because she wanted Mrs. Ragland to be able to celebrate with Harry and Meghan as well! (And if Sandringham house has anything, it is plenty of room!)
From holiday games to late night dinners, the Queen and her noble brood sure know how to celebrate in style. Here are 20 royal holiday traditions you probably didn’t know about!
Celebrating at Sandringham House
The family surprisingly does not celebrate at Buckingham palace, but instead they travel to Sandringham house, a country manor on a measly 20,000 acres for some fresh air and privacy.
Annual Soccer Game between Prince Harry and Prince William
Every year Prince Harry and Prince William compete against each other in a soccer match to support local charities. They each wear a pair of socks from their favorite professional soccer teams for good luck.
Sending out Christmas Cards (Early) (And to Everyone)
The Queen and her husband Prince Phillip send out close to 1,000 Christmas cards every year. They wisely get a head start signing them the summer before the holiday season to ensure they are ready and received on time.
Church Service on Christmas Morning
The royal family attends church every year at St. Mary Magdalene church. Prince Charles leads the family as they walk to the service, where they are joined by the Queen, who is driven.
Turkey for Christmas Lunch
After their morning church service, the royal family enjoys a Traditional turkey with a few EXTRA extras, like shrimp and lobster.
Leaving Christmas Decorations Up Past the New Year
The Christmas decorations at Sandringham house, which include multiple Christmas Trees, are kept up on into February. The Queen does this to remember and honor her father, King George VI, who died in February of 1952.
Watching the Queen’s Christmas Message Together
At precisely 3:00 p.m. The Queen’s Christmas Message is broadcast across the United Kingdom. Everyone in the family, including the queen, sits down together to listen to her well wishes for the new year.
Giving Gag Gifts
Every year the family exchanges gifts on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas day. They don’t go for opulence, but instead exchange silly gag gifts. Supposed gifts include a leather toilet seat from Princess Anne to Prince Charles, and a shower cap that had a rather funny saying from Prince Harry to his grandmother the Queen.
Charades & Maybe a Puzzle or Two
After the Queen’s Christmas Message, the family spends time together working on puzzles or even playing a game of Charades.
Movie Night
The ballroom of Sandringham house has a large screen that can be pulled down to transform the room into a spacious theater perfect for Christmas movies, or even an episode or two of the Netflix original series The Crown, which the Queen reportedly loves.
Visiting Santa
Prince William and Kate seem to be starting their own tradition with a visit to Father Christmas each year to let Prince George (and soon Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis) drop off his letter to the North Pole in person.
Weighing In
We may want to shun the scales around the holidays, but not so with the Royal family. Prominent Royal experts tell of a tradition where each member of the family weighs themselves before and after their Christmas feast, in order to make sure everyone is “well fed.”
Giving Gifts on Christmas Eve
Instead of waiting until Christmas morning to exchange gifts, everybody gets together to hand out presents to each other the night before on Christmas Eve.
Making Specialty Cocktails
On Christmas Eve, the Queen ends the night with her favorite cocktail made from Dubonnet and Gin. Other members of the royal family, like Harry & William, have started their own holiday drinking tradition with a glass of hard cider made from apple trees found at Sandringham House.
Cramped Sleeping Arrangements
Although the estate may be large, as the christmas seasons gets into the full swing Sandringham house can get quite crowded. At its busiest some family members have had to sleep in the staff quarters.
Bringing Homegrown Produce
Prince Charles always brings plums from his personal estate for the family to enjoy on Christmas day every year.
The Royal Shoot
Prince Philip will host a pheasant shoot just in time for boxing day. A great way to end the festivities with some fresh air and exercise.
French Menus and Special China
The plates and menus themselves are just as nice as the food being served on top of them. The official Christmas dinner menu is always in French, and Copeland China in blue and white is used for main courses.
Cracker Hats
On Christmas day each member of the Royal family pops Christmas crackers before lunch, and then they each wear (The Queen included) the paper hats found within throughout the course of the meal.
The Queen's Christmas Pudding
Every year the Queen gifts more than 1,500 christmas puddings to her staff, as well as the staff of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. They use to come from Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, but in recent years she has made the switch to puddings from Tesco.
